GUWAHATI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the Batadrava Than Redevelopment Project in Nagaon, Assam, on December 29. Batadrava is the birthplace of 16th-century Vaishnav Guru Sri Sankardev and is a most sacred place for the people of Assam.
Addressing a huge gathering in Batadrava, Home Minister Shah said that today, the birthplace of the great saint Srimanta Sankardev, Nagaon, which had long been under the occupation of Bangladeshi encroachers, has been successfully liberated and established as a sacred site of the world-renowned Srimanta Sankardev. This is a matter of immense joy and pride for all of us.
Remembering Bharat Ratna Gopinath Bordoloi, HM Shah said, “If Gopinath Ji had not been there, Assam and the entire Northeast would not be a part of our country today. It was Gopinath Ji who firmly persuaded Jawaharlal Nehru to keep the Northeast within India. I pay my heartfelt respects to him.
He further said that the great saint Srimanta Sankardeva established the Neo-Vaishnavite religion and instilled the values of devotion, morality, and humanity throughout Northeast India. Following the path shown in the Bhagavata Purana, practising devotion to God, living a virtuous life, and serving the country as one’s motherland – this was the message that Srimanta Sankardeva gave to society.
Mentioning the writings of Sankardev on Bharat Bhumi home minister Shah said, the great saint Srimanta Sankardeva awakened us to our responsibilities towards both humanity and our motherland.
He wrote:
“dhany dhany kalikaal,
dhany naratanu bhaal
dhany dhany bhaarat barish.
”This means that human life itself is invaluable, and being born in the land of Bharat is the greatest fortune. Those who talk about breaking up India today should remember that 500 years ago, the great saint Srimanta Sankardev gave the message of ‘One India’, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is carrying forward today.
Criticising the previous Congress government for their appeasement politics HM Shah said, Was it right for Bangladeshi infiltrators to occupy the memorial site of Srimanta Sankardev? Today, I want to congratulate Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for removing those infiltrators and re-establishing the Namghar (prayer hall) and Sankardev Abirbhav Khetra (birthplace). More than one lakh bighas of land have been freed from encroachers by the government, which is commendable. The Congress party protected these infiltrators for years. They paved the way for settling these infiltrators by bringing in the IMDT Act in 1983.I take this pledge from the sacred land of the great saint Srimanta Sankardev that we will work to identify and expel these infiltrators not only from Assam but from the whole of India, HM Shah said.
Home Minister Shah also paid homage to the 860 martyrs of the “Assam Movement” at the newly inaugurated ‘Swahid Smarak’ in Guwahati. He said the Congress party was in power for a long time, but it did nothing for the martyrs of the Assam movement. On December 10, under the leadership of Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, the Assam government constructed a grand memorial for those martyrs.
Prime Minister Modi is the most frequent visitor to Northeast India. Assam sent Dr Manmohan Singh to the Rajya Sabha, but he visited Assam only 7 times, two of which were solely to file his nomination papers. Assam is emerging today as the growth engine of the entire Northeast India. This transformation has been made possible by the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the centre for the past 11 years, and by the leadership of Sarbananda Sonowal for the first 5 years, and now of Himanta Biswa Sarma in the state. Appealing to the people to vote for the BJP in the coming assembly election, Home Minister Shah said, If the people of Assam support the BJP once again, we will free the entire state from illegal immigrants. Those who consider illegal immigrants as a vote bank can never do this.
Illegal immigrants are a great threat to the culture of Assam and the security of the country. Only those who believe this can take concrete steps, and the only party that believes this is the BJP. Home Minister Shah also inaugurated the newly constructed Guwahati City Police Commissioner’s office and the biggest auditorium in the Northeast, Jyoti-Bishnu Prekhagriha.
